Out of $3.6B Writedown, JPMorgan Pulls a Q3 Profit

JPMorgan Chase surprised analysts and brought some partly sunny news to a mostly gloomy Wall Street, reporting net income of $527 million, or 11 cents a share, despite mortgage-related writedowns of $3.6 billion and $640 million in losses from its takeover of Washington Mutual, reports the Wall Street Journal. Analysts had expected losses of 29 cents a share.

Chief exec Jamie Dimon, while citing his bank's relative financial strength, nevertheless warned that upcoming quarters could see reduced earnings due to “the uncertainty in the capital markets, housing sector, and economy overall.” JPMorgan was one of nine banks the feds have moved to take an ownership stake in. A year ago, it earned $3.37 billion, or 97 cents a share. 
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